NASA has renewed its "catalog" of small- and medium-sized spacecraft buses, adding a new procedure that lets additional companies list their products during regular "on-ramp" periods. Although the potential value of spacecraft procured during the five-year life of the Indefinite delivery/Indefinite Quantity contracts with the six contractors listed in the "Rapid Spacecraft Acquisition" procurement is $1.5 billion, the actual figure is likely to be much less.
Europe's two biggest aerospace groups are competing for an alliance with Italy's Alenia Aerospazio. The newly formed European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company (EADS) is negotiating with Alenia about close cooperation, a spokesman for Germany's DaimlerChrysler Aerospace (DASA) confirmed on Monday. EADS is comprised of DASA, Spain's CASA and France's Aerospatiale Matra. Rival BAE Systems, meanwhile, is also reported to be negotiating with Alenia.
Raytheon Systems Co., Defense Systems Segment, Naval&Maritime Systems, Sudbury, Mass., is being awarded a $79,086,361 firm-fixed-price contract for FY 00 requirements of three shipsets of AEGIS weapons system OT-188/SPY-1D(V) transmitter groups, fire control system MK99 MOD 3 ancillary equipment, data, spares, provisioned item order, provisioning technical documentation, and technical manuals for U.S. Navy requirements. The three shipsets will be installed aboard Arleigh Burke class destroyers as follows: DDG 96, DDG 97, and DDG 98.
Allied Research Corp. (ARC) said it is selling its Barnes&Reinecke subsidiary to United Defense Limited Partners (UDLP), and expects to close the deal in the first quarter of 2000 Based in Arlington, Va., Barnes&Reinecke provides systems technical support and performance upgrades for defense departments globally. United Defense is an operating unit of the Carlyle Group, a privately held investment firm in Washington.
The U.S. Army announced selection of AAI Corp., Hunt Valley, Md., as the winner of its Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (TUAV) competition. AAI was awarded a $41.8 contract for the production and support of four low rate initial production (LRIP) TUAV Systems, according to the Pentagon. The TUAV is to provide Army tactical commanders with the capability to conduct reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition, and battle damage assessment to an objective range of 200 kilometers, the Army said.
Rolls-Royce reported winning helicopter engine contracts worth up to $14 million. It received a $9 million contract from the U.S. Army for engines and support activities for OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopters, and an order for up to $5 million from the government of Mexico to power 24 Bell 206L-4 Long Ranger helicopters.
RHEIN-MAIN AIR BASE, the U.S. military's "gateway to Europe" and the main western base for the Berlin Airlift in 1948, is being transferred to the Federal Republic of Germany and will be absorbed into the Frankfurt Airport, the Pentagon announced. The transfer will take place over six years. Rhein-Main's role as a strategic airlift contingency mission will be shifted to Ramstein and Spangdahlem air bases in Germany, according to the Pentagon.
The outlines of some emerging aerospace trends became apparent in 1999, and are likely to become clearer in 2000. The air war in Yugoslavia confirmed the advantages enjoyed by the U.S. as the world's only super power -- the technological sophistication and overwhelming force required for precision attacks around the clock -- and made it obvious to NATO allies that they must bulk up their militaries or let Washington lead the way in future European conflicts.
Old business will be the order of the day for space exploration as the new millennium gets underway, but by year's end astronauts, cosmonauts and perhaps even Chinese "taikonauts" should be laying the groundwork for a permanent human return to low Earth orbit and, eventually, beyond.
The Pentagon's Ballistic Missile Defense Organization enters a critical phase this year as it moves closer to possible deployment of a national missile defense (NMD) system and rides a wave of technological successes while dodging cost and schedule barriers. Last year proved pivotal for BMDO as it repeatedly demonstrated hit-to-kill technology. It enjoyed successes in practically all of its programs after years of setbacks, cost problems and criticism.
Orbital Sciences Corp. has sold 33% of MacDonald Dettwiler&Associates (MDA), a Canadian subsidiary, to a Canadian investor group for $75 million. The Dulles, Va.-based company said last week it will use proceeds from the sale to "increase overall liquidity and reduce short-term debt."
STILL LOOKING: Spacecraft controllers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory haven't given up on the Mars Polar Lander, although the chances of getting a signal and recovering the mission are "remote" at best. While the Mars Global Surveyor's camera continues to scan the landing site for a glimpse of the lander's parachute or other large piece, controllers will work through all remaining recovery scenarios in the hope that one of them will hold the key. The work should be finished by mid-January, at which time the mission will be considered lost.
NASA has picked the Orbital Sciences Corp. Pegasus XL rocket to launch two of its small science payloads in 2002 at a cost to the government of about $35 million, Orbital announced Thursday. Awarded under Kennedy Space Center's Small Expendable Launch Vehicle Services (SELVS) contract, the launch service agreements cover the Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) in July 2002, and the SCISAT-1 launch in the second quarter of 2002.
POWER DOWN: NASA set the Y2K deadline today for its Space Shuttles to be on the ground out of concern the power grid may not handle the computer date-logic problem as well as the software that runs the Shuttle fleet does. Shuttle managers believe the on-board computer software that makes the spaceplanes go will get through the rollover from 1999 to 2000 without a hitch. It's top-flight stuff that's been rated for human spaceflight through rigorous checks.
The U.S. Navy has flown an F-14B fighter with a new cockpit that features the latest display technology, according to Flight Visions Inc. of Sugar Grove, Ill., which supplied and integrated the cockpit's display and processor system. The upgrade, tested Nov. 24 at Point Mugu, Calif., is "the most extensive commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) cockpit modification and computer installation ever on a front-line tactical aircraft," said Robert Atac, CEO of Flight Visions.
BUDGET HEAD START: Even though lawmakers will be out of town until Jan. 24, their budget staffers will be busy in the new year as the Pentagon starts sending its fiscal year 2000 program budget decisions to the Hill. A number of budget outlines are expected to go congressional staffs this week, even though the workforce levels on the Hill may be low due to the holiday. While some staffs will get a head start, no major budget work will begin until at least after the president's state of the union speech, scheduled for Jan. 27.
DSB ADVICE: With the defense industrial base "reconstituting itself" to become "more global [and] commercially oriented," says a Defense Science Board report, the Dept. of Defense must use commercial products, practices and services to reduce system acquisition cycle time, increase efficiency, and lower costs of new and upgraded systems.
The Aerospace Industries Association praised a judgment by the English High Court against the European Commission's rule opposing hushkitted aircraft. AIA said the judge found in favor of Omega Air, a manufacturer of hushkits and a member of the Washington-based association. The judge, according to AIA, said the hushkit rule "seems wholly defective in its reasons."
Earth Sciences Inc., McCall, Idaho, reported it has completed its acquisition of privately held Space Technology Development Corp. of Alexandria, Va. Earth Sciences said it acquired all shares of STDC for four million shares of Earth Sciences common stock and the option to purchase another four million shares at exercise prices ranging to five dollars. One key asset in the deal for Earth Sciences is the right to develop one of the world's first commercial hyperspectal imaging satellites - the Naval EarthMap Observer satellite.
Lockheed Martin Missiles&Space will study advanced carbon heatshield and insulation materials technology for possible reentry vehicle development under a $398,158 contract from the Office of Naval Research. The company's Strategic Missile Programs unit in Sunnyvale, Calif., will develop advanced processing methods and advanced carbon composites that can be applied to heatshields and other types of reentry systems. The goal is to produce strategic and hypersonic tactical missiles for the Navy at lower cost.
When Congress returns at the end of January, there will be some leardership post changes on the Senate Armed Services Committee. SASC Chairman Sen. John Warner (R-Va.) announced the shifting of some subcommittee chair posts before Congress adjourned for the year, changes he said were made as a consequence of the recent death of Sen. John Chafee (R-R.I.). The two subcommittee changes are on the Strategic Forces and the Personnel Subcommittees.
GLOBAL HAWK LESSON: One lesson of the March 29 crash of the Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle is that testers of such vehicles should be aware that as UAVs fly higher, the risk of unintended flight terminations from unencrypted signals can increase. The Global Hawk, flying at 41,000 feet over the test range complex of Edwards AFB, Calif., received an errant flight termination signal from a range at Nellis AFB, Nev. The result was a rolling, vertical descent to impact at the South Range of the China Lake Naval Weapons Center, Calif. (DAILY, Dec. 23).
BOEING has picked Kaiser Marquardt to supply the biopropellant engines that will power the U.S. Propulsion Module for the International Space Station. The Van Nuys, Calif.-based manufacturer will provide 100 lbf (490-Newton) engines for the module's attitude control system, and 200 lbf (890 N) engines to reboost the Station. Boeing is building the Propulsion Module as a backup to Russia's Zvezda Service Module.
NEW HYPERVELOCITY MISSILE: U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command wants proposals by Jan. 27 for the Compact Kinetic Energy Missile (CKEM) technology demonstration program. The Army sees CKEM as "the next-generation hypervelocity missile ... smaller, lighter and faster than the current generation but still capable of overwhelming lethality against advanced armor and capable of defeating Explosive Reactive Armor ...
